Porphyrias Lover Flashcards
who’s the poet and what’s the context behind the poem
Robert browning focused on morbid, twisted psychological states
The woman in the poem is named after a disease - state type which can result in madness
The poem could be a metaphor for dealing with disease
Compare other poems to this one
Follower - roles are reversed
Farmers bride - longing beings potentially destructive
^^ sonnet 29
Eden rock - love enduring beyond death
What’s the form of poem and its effect give quote
Dramatic monologue> hear a person speaking (normally too somebody) there is a gap between what the speaker wants us to know and what the reader can work out
the listener could be the present dead porphyria
‘One wish was filled’
^can we trust poet creates tension reader has to become detective
What does the opening stanza portray
The speakers morbid mood
Use of pathetic fallacy and the writer feels the weather is against him (personification)
What technique is used to stand out certain words
Poetic inversion
‘When glided in porphyria’
What contextual attitude are shown
How would readers reacts
The rights of women and men being more in power
Women were property of men
Porphyria is not typical Victorian woman and she is dominant over man so she is put in place
A feminist interpretation would feel that Victorian men are weakened by the dependency they have over V women
^men are obsessed with power over women
Language
Description of porphyria
Describes her as ‘it’ and ‘little’ which has changed from earlier in poem
This objectified women and makes her seem his possession
What’s the rhyme scheme
Masculine rhyme > end of each line they rhyme but it’s just the final syllbol
^thus backs up masculine dominancy of poem so it’s a deleibtate choice
What’s the message meant to be portrayed
The masculine dominance over women
Porphyria is tightly controlled by speaker this is reflected through tight rhyme scheme
How does enjambment and stanza structure show
Stream of thoughts which are 1 long stanza and enmajmbent emphasises loss of control and reflects characters abnormal behaviour
This makes it overwhelming to reader
